SARG Ice Breaker - day 2

Rachel started the day off with a bang...cutting a huge chunk off her 100 IM (swimming it in 1:35.97, which was a B time and within about three seconds of the BB time) and winning her heat! She added about 1 second on her 100 back and 4 1/2 seconds on her 50 fly, but she was conserving her energy for the 50 free. She swam the 50 free in 36.82 seconds...which was a divisional cut! It was also less than a second from the BB time, and she won her heat! Rachel came in 10th today in the 100 IM (which should get her a ribbon) and 14th for the 50 free. For the meet as a whole, she cut time in 6 of her 8 events, won three heats on individual events and one for the relay yesterday, made two more B times, and got the divisional cut (which was the last remaining goal we had set to accomplish this season.) Overall, I'd say this was THE meet of her season so far! Way to go, Rachel. You have put in a lot of work, started to really race when you race, and made some sacrifices that have hopefully been worth it. Now go get that divisional time in the 100 free!

Southridge Ice Breaker Day 1

An amazing day today! Rachel said at the beginning of the meet, "I'm going to win every race!" Well, she didn't do that, exactly, but she did shell out some amazing (for her) swims. Her first race was the 100 Freestyle. Her seed time was only .5 of a second from a B time...and she wanted it! She won her heat, and took off 7 1/2 seconds! Her time was 1:31.77; she swam it in 1:24:15. She is now only 2 seconds away from the divisional time in the 100 free! She came in 15th out of 42. Then came the 50 Backstroke. She cut off .23 of a second (Her time is now 47.56). Next was the 50 breast stroke, in which she cut another .59 of a second and swam it in 56.14. Her last individual event was the 100 butterfly. She led all the way until the very end, and was out-touched by another swimmer. She made another small cut of .29 second, down to 1:51.68. She placed 14th out of 20 (The 100 fly usually doesn't have a lot of takers at this age!) Then, the swim that stands out as the most exciting...Rachel was substituted onto the 200 Medley relay B team due to a couple of swimmers from the team not being there. They put her as the anchor, swimming the freestyle leg of the medley. She started out her swim being a fair distance behind the leading team. She showed some grit and determination, and passed the leader at the end, resulting in her team winning their heat! All the parents from our team were SCREAMING at the top of their lungs...it was so exciting!!!! She swam the 50 free (according to the stopwatch of another parent) in under 36 seconds...more than a second under the divisional time! So....if she can do that again tomorrow...we will be heading to Columbus IN in March! (Lord willing.) Stay tuned.... : - )

JAWS Medal Fest Day 2

Rachel did get a medal for the butterfly. She also cut a second and a half on the 100 breast (now 2:07) and cut 4 seconds off her 50 back and got her B time (47.79)! She added a slight fraction of a second on her 50 butterfly and nearly won her heat, but one of her teammates edged her out at the end! She added quite a bit of time (9 seconds) on her 100 free, but that's ok. That happens once in awhile, and you just deal with it and move on. Overall, I would say it was a successful meet for my favorite swimmer!

JAWS Medal fest day 1

Wow...what a day! Rachel has not done much swimming in almost two weeks because of holidays and being out of town, and she was stuck in the car all day yesterday while we came back from South Carolina, so I didn't have any idea of what to expect out of her swimming today. But Rachel and I agreed ahead of time that if she swam well, it would be only from the Lord being with her and we would give him the credit! So....we started out with the 100 backstroke. She cut 14 seconds off her time (2:00 down to 1:46) and just barely missed the B time! Next came the 50 breast stroke. She cut 9 seconds (1:05 to :56) and won her heat! By now, I was getting a little excited that perhaps the 50 free divisional time that has been eluding her would finally be in her grasp! Next up was the 100 butterfly. She started out looking pretty good, but was obviously tired for the last 50. She added about 9 seconds to her time...but still came in 15th place. This meet is pretty special in that they give out medals down to 16th place (I think that is how it works) so Rachel will be getting her very first individual medal! She was VERY excited about that! Finally, the event that we had drove all the way back in one day for...the 50 free. Rachel and I were initially hoping that she might get a medal for this event...but once I saw the competition she was up against, I knew that there wasn't much likelihood of her accomplishing that. But the divisional time was still very achievable (as mentioned from the last post, we know that she has it in her to do this...she did it in the relay). So....she dove in....and added a split second to her time. She was disappointed, of course, but she got over it quickly, especially because right after that event is when she found out that she had gotten the medal in the 100 fly. So, we'll thank God for her good swims today and look forward to tomorrow!

Mt. Vernon Candy Cane Classic - day 3

Well, this day was certainly one of emotional roller coasters! The morning started out with the 200 free. Rachel didn't swim her best time, but she wasn't that far off. Then came the 50 breast. We had another goggle fiasco. She was zigzagging all over the place because of not being able to see. She dq'd. Right before her 100 back, the coach "on duty" said something ridiculous to her about the breast-stroke fiasco...and Rachel broke down. I could see her up there getting ready to swim, just sobbing. My heart broke! She got in there and swam (still crying!), but as soon as she got out she was nearly hysterical and telling me she never wanted to swim again! I have to admit, I was so mad I could feel the mother bear inside of me trying to get out! And I also have to admit, I probably said more than I needed to about the situation to a couple of people, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight. Soooo...we got ourselves both calmed down, and I convinced her she had to at least swim the relay at the end because her friends were counting on her. After she agreed to that, I told her she was so close to that divisional time in the 50 free, the next event, that she ought to just get in there and take out her frustration on the water! She thought that sounded like a good idea, so she went in there and cut half a second! Now, I didn't tell her this, but if she had bombed the 50 free, I was going to nix the 100 butterfly. There would be no point in adding insult to injury, so to speak. But since she had done so well, and was feeling ok again, I didn't even suggest that dropping that event was a possibility. Anyway, she got in the warmup pool to practice a few butterfly strokes, and one of her friends made a recommendation of something she could do to improve her stroke (I found this out later.) So, Rachel dives in for the 100 fly....and cuts 37 seconds! And this was only the third time she has swam this event. (She cut it from 2:28 to 1:51 - a 25% cut!) She got her B time, and I didn't even consider that to be a real possibility for this season! Now, the child is on cloud nine, of course. Well, the relay is last. Rachel is swimming the freestyle leg of the 200 medley relay. She swam a time that would have qualified her for the divisional meet IF it had been an individual event and not a relay! Grrr!!! So close! But now at least, she knows that she can do it!!!! Her friend Emily qualified today with her 50 breast stroke, and Rachel SOOO wants to go to the divisional meet with her....the saga continues.....

Mt.Vernon Candy Cane Classic - Day 2

Rachel had another great day! She cut 17 seconds off of her 100 breast and 3 seconds off of her 50 fly (which puts her at only 1 second away from the B time in that event!) I guess those big time cuts that I thought would come at the RAC meet are just showing up a couple of weeks later than I thought they would.

I am thoroughly confused, because now on the team's website it has down that Rachel does have her B time in the 100 free. We're still up in the air on that one.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Two of Rachel's favorite events are tomorrow...the 50 free and the 50 breast. I know she could achieve another one of her goals tomorrow with getting her 50 breast down to under a minute...because she did it in right at a minute for the first 50 of the 100 today, and that wasn't going all out at the end. Now, whether she will do it tomorrow remains to be seen, of course, but I know that she can. And if she gets that divisional time in the 50 free tomorrow, everybody in Mt. Vernon will hear me hoopin' and hollerin'!

Mt.Vernon Candy Cane Classic- day 1

Rachel cut 15 seconds off her 200 IM tonight! Woot!